Barriers

I unrolled barbed wire for acres

To keep the animals “Under my tree”.

I often wish now as an old man,

The fence was cut, and they ran free.

One side kept the livestock in,

The other kept predators at bay…

I see now the moral dilemma;

Risk harm or take freedom away.

If I were the horse with flared nostrils,

Inhaling the scent of a better stranger,

I would prefer the choice to run free,

Risking a future chance of danger.